Longtime MED Prof to Lead AMA’s JAMA

Howard Bauchner to edit influential publication

Howard Bauchner says that leaving BU is bittersweet, but he wants “to make sure JAMA contributes to the discussions in American medicine” over issues such as health care reform and the burgeoning genetics fields. Photo courtesy of Howard Bauchner

Bauchner (MED’79) was in Chicago, JAMA’s base, for yesterday’s announcement of his appointment, which is effective July 1. He succeeds friend and fellow pediatrician Catherine DeAngelis, the journal’s first woman editor. A MED professor of pediatrics and vice chairman of BMC’s pediatrics department, Bauchner will move to Chicago. His son Mathis (CGS’11, COM’13) will continue studying at BU.

“It’s truly an honor and a privilege to direct JAMA,” Bauchner says. From the Gilded Age to the Internet Age, JAMA has been the scholarly flagship of one of the most influential professional groups in the country. Published continuously since 1883, the magazine bills itself as “the most widely circulated medical journal in the world.” It is selective, publishing just 9 percent of the 6,000 solicited and unsolicited manuscripts submitted each year.

“We are pleased that Dr. Bauchner will be the new editor of JAMA,” says Michael D. Maves, American Medical Association CEO and executive vice president. “We’re confident the journal will continue to grow and prosper under his leadership. The future of JAMA—one of the AMA’s most treasured assets—is in great hands.”

In selecting Bauchner as its new editor, JAMA has chosen a physician whose résumé brims with editorial experience. He is currently the first U.S.-based editor-in-chief of the British Archives of Disease in Childhood, published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He is also a member of the editorial boards of several publications. Author of more than 125 papers, he researches health promotion, quality improvement, and clinical trials.

Bauchner plans “intelligent innovation” at JAMA, he says, by updating its website and print presentations and bringing in new columnists to provide “provocative content.”

“I want to make sure JAMA contributes to the discussions in American medicine” over issues such as health care reform and the burgeoning genetics fields, he says.

Leaving BU after a generation is bittersweet, says Bauchner; it “has been my home for over two decades, and it has been wonderful caring for our patients. They have many struggles and adversities in their lives, and we are committed to improving their health.” The federal government designates BMC a “safety-net hospital” for the many poor and uninsured patients it serves.

Bauchner came to BU as an assistant professor in 1986. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley, later doing his medical internship and working as a junior and then chief resident at BMC (then Boston City Hospital).

“Not only is Dr. Bauchner an accomplished scholar, researcher, and pediatrician, but he is also a thoughtful and generous colleague,” says Karen Antman, MED dean and provost of the BU Medical Campus. “He will be an outstanding editor-in-chief of JAMA.”

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